When the 2026 Atlanta United season was about to begin, hopes were high.

A lot of fans felt that surely it couldn’t get worse than the 2025 Deila campaign. Well, I’ve got bad news, it did get worse. About as bad as it could possibly get.

After narrowly avoiding winning the Wooden Spoon last season, we are on pace to not only win it, but firmly flaunt it about.

You may be asking yourself at this point, “How can a team let itself get this bad?” Well, buddy, that’s the $64,000 Question that needs answering. I don’t have that answer. Nobody really does. All we have are perceptions and speculation about what really is happening.

It’s been said that there is a cancer in the culture of the team… if you even can call this a team. It’s still a collection of individuals.

But riddle me this… if a team can go up 2-0 and then blow that lead with 3 goals in the space of 20 minutes, especially after some questionable substitutions to try and see out the game, what do you call that? Not a team. Not anything. Just… I don’t know.

I don’t know what more can be said that other analysts than myself have said at this point. The roster will continue to turn over. Will it be for the good or bad? Again, who knows.

Can this team be saved? I don’t know the answer to that either. Again, we can keep speculating and guessing, but nobody really knows the answer to that.

As my good friend T. Nick Tewell said last night, “It’s the hope that kills you.”